Clyde Buckner
Smuggler, assassin, scoundrel, and all-around reprobate, Clyde is something of a criminal jack-of-all-trades. His primary work is in smuggling, but he has worked any number of jobs throughout his career. Above all, he relies on his charm and wit to carry him through, and observers have often commented that he seems to perform better without a plan than with one. Early Life Clyde Buckner's exact parentage is unknown, but it is known that he was born and spent most of his youth in Colorado. He seems to have easily slipped into the criminal element there at a young age, moving from simple pickpocketing to working as a mule and lookout in his teens. Somewhere along the line, it was discovered that his natural skills made him an excellent smuggler, and that became his primary line of work - one in high demand, of course, as Free Colorado became a haven for sky piracy at the end of the 1920s. Smuggling Career and New Orleans At some point in his 20s, Clyde relocated semi-permanently to New Orelans. Here he became friends with Papa Big Love, through whom he met Annie Lambert. The two had many interests (alcohol, gambling, and sex) in common, as well as a shared "go hard" attitude. Their relationship was passionate (some would say tempestuous), and they married. Travels in Asia Through an unclear path, Clyde and Annie wound up traveling Southeast Asia for a time, both continuing their respective lines of work. However, the gambling began to catch up with them, and Annie's predilection for Russian Roulette in particular put them into deep debt. Desperate for money, Clyde was approached by an underboss for the Yakuza named Wataru. Wataru had a job for Clyde, something a little... different. The smuggler had been in firefights before, of course - there was no way to avoid them in his line of work. However, he had never hired out for wetwork specifically, and that was exactly what the Yakuza needed. As the threat looming over Annie's head grew larger, Clyde accepted the job, and found that in actuality... well, murder didn't both him much at all. He continued to work in Asia, having a profitable relationship with Wataru, for an unknown length of time. Although Clyde was eventually able to pay off his wife's gambling debts, their relationship was strained by the experience. They had never been a comfortable couple, and a combination of factors led to their divorce some time during this period. That said, it is likely that flame between the two has not entirely died. Mercenary Career At some point, Clyde returned to North America, winding up in New York City. There, he was hired by the vampire Countess Isabella Strigoi for his smuggling experience to help recover a stolen statuette. For this particular job, he worked alongside Heinrich Mordson, Eamon Ó Súilleabháin, and Blue Jacket. Through the course of their mission, the group encountered a mysterious Mr. White, whom Clyde took an instant liking to. The smuggler often refers to the man as "Mr. W.," a practice that has thus far been met with at least toleration, and possibly even amusement. After utterly baffling New York police with a series of increasingly bizarre lies, Clyde, along with the rest of the group, was hired for another job. A loose vampire in the sewers of New York had to be disposed of, and once that was done, the whole group traveled across the Atlantic to deliver a shipment of weapons to the IRA. Again, of course, Clyde's experience was a natural fit. Following some clashes with British forces in Ireland, the mercenaries were forced to flee to France, where they met a Commandant Robert Pascal. The commandant hired them for a mission inside the borders of Nazi Germany, alongside the Russian Grigory Gagarin. Clyde generally gets along with the group, although he had threatened to fight Heinrich on numerous occasions. More recently, his threats seem to be directed towards Grigoriy, although all of the other men tend to brush these events off as more tomfoolery than actual strife. Abilities and Known Aliases Clyde carries a pair of mauser pistols, a rifle, and a katana from his days in Japan, easily switching between his weapons as the situation demands. His fighting style is mobile and dirty, often using misdirection and unexpected movements to catch his foes off guard. The smuggler has an odd lucky streak even in combat, unexpectedly ducking to the side of what had been a clear shot or throwing a foe off-balance simply by talking at them. In general, he has many of the abilities one would expect of someone with his history, and is skilled at persuasion in all its forms. Known Aliases: Bucky (not by choice), Sly Clyde, Professor James R. Hill, Hump Rexington, John Smith (when in Japan) Category:Personalities Category:Criminals Category:Mercenaries